'How to live on 16,000?' Volgograd residents debate teacher shortage

Parents of students report an acute shortage of teachers in Volgograd schools. In some places, mathematics has been removed from the schedule because there is no one to teach it; in others, the Russian language teacher has disappeared. School administrators acknowledge the problem but assure that they are actively seeking new employees—for 28,000 rubles (about $311 at current rates). What do city residents think about this situation? We publish their sharp opinions. By the way, among the comments, one can also see responses from teachers who were forced to resign for various reasons.

Earlier we reported that fifth grades in Gymnasium No. 13 in the Traktorozavodsky District were left without a mathematics teacher. There, according to parents, this subject was simply removed from the schedule. The previous teacher quit, but no one is replacing him—there is no one. A new employee is offered from 28,000 to 40,000 rubles (about $311 to $444 at current rates). A similar situation has developed in Gymnasium No. 2 in the Krasnoarmeysky District. There, as parents say, three seventh grades were left without a mathematics teacher. According to parents, for more than a year, this difficult discipline has been taught to children by a computer science teacher. A future colleague is offered from 27,000 to 30,000 rubles (about $300 to $333 at current rates).

Under these materials, hundreds of comments have accumulated. Here is what V1.RU readers think on this topic.

«Well, here»s the result: there«s no one to teach the children. Simply put, few people go into schools after university, and those who cling to their last strength in school for 250 rubles, the whole city is ready to eat them alive! I am a teacher myself and know what I»m writing about!«

«There will soon be no teachers left in schools.»

«Haven»t they tried raising the salary?«

«It»s high time to implement a three-year mandatory work placement in the specialty after university. And it«s not just about the salary. The attitude towards teachers needs to be changed somehow. For insulting, for humiliating a teacher, we need to punish not only rude children but also parents.»

«Young teachers have to work for the minimum wage! That»s 25,000 rubles (about $278 at current rates). Or work two full loads, then a maximum of 30,000–35,000 rubles (about $333–389 at current rates). Who would go there?«

«And can you live on 16,000 rubles (about $178 at current rates)? Teachers, children want to eat and live like human beings, not like stray kittens. And how teachers are humiliated by children, parents, and the state, which introduced certification every 5 years, where you collect these miserable points, and it»s impossible to earn them, but your category depends on them. And so I, after working for 45 years, had to once again prove that I meet the highest category. It«s disgustingly terrible. I retired and don»t remember the school. I could have worked more, but not for such a salary.«

«When teachers are dragged through the mud, starting from the school administration, ending with children, parents, you really don»t want to work. The salary is enough to pay for the apartment, bus fare (a teacher in the current situation will never earn enough for a car), and, probably, for a pack of pasta with cheap semi-finished products, to have at least some semblance of meat on the table.«

«A colossal amount of workload on an ordinary subject teacher, and some also get homeroom responsibilities thrown in, does not correspond to the salary. The teaching profession should generally be equated to particularly dangerous ones.»

«Until the teaching profession is paid appropriately, until a teacher »provides an educational service,« until the prestige of the profession is at such a low level, until individual parents and students behave with the teacher as with a servant, we will have what we have.»

«Gymnasium, an elite institution. A similar income can, without stress, be earned by a novice in a call center, without qualifications.»

«They could write the advertisement more concisely: looking for a teacher to work for food.»

«If a math teacher were offered the salary of a school director, and she herself took the math teacher»s salary of 27,000–30,000 rubles (before personal income tax deduction), then there would be a queue and you could even choose.«

«As a teacher with 33 years of experience, I can name several main reasons: pay, which has long lagged far behind a cleaner»s salary; complete lack of respect from students, parents, and management; an exorbitant number of duties for not high pay; most students« unwillingness to gain knowledge, devaluation of labor results.»